The first phase of Project H2O Air Kuning was a success; a project collaborated between EcoKnights, Aveda and Build For Tomorrow on 24th February 2018. Phase One of the project achieved its target to supply the Temuan community of Kampung Orang Asal Air Kuning located in the outskirts of Taman Botani Negara in Shah Alam a source of water for the time being whereas the implementation of a filtration system will take place during Phase Two of the project, which will be held in April 2018.

Most people would not have guessed or will surely be surprised to hear of an Orang Asal village right in the heart of Shah Alam, about a 10 minutes drive from Stadium Shah Alam. Despite being so close to modern civilization, the community lacked resilient housing, a reliable source of water, electricity and sanitation; all the elements which are arguably a basic human right.

Some of the Temuan households.

Project H2O was founded by EcoKnights to provide education on water safety and address health issues related to water. In addition, this project also channels water filtration systems to various communities, with its aim to provide either a rainwater harvesting system, water pump system or water filtration system which will provide accessibilities to the beneficiaries for their personal consumption. Furthermore, this project also provide informal and systematic education on safe drinking water for the beneficiaries and water-related education and activities as an alternative source of water for daily use.

The first phase of this project was the installation of a piping system and tanks throughout the village grounds. This new piping system will provide a reliable source of water for drinking purposes and general domestic use for 86 people (the population of the Temuan community). On the other hand, the community would not have to pay any utility bills. Furthermore, Build For Tomorrow also installed solar powered lights along the village pathways to further secure the community of their basic necessity. The full day of hard labour work would not have been completed without the help of 24 committed volunteers.

A solar powered lamp post.

The piping system installed was an ‘Off the grid water supply system’ as shown below.

All parties involved carried out various tasks on the day, each based on their own physical and mental capabilities such as setting up water distribution pipes, which also required clearing paths through the jungle and digging trenches beforehand.

Ruben Cortes from Build For Tomorrow setting up one of the pipes

A group laying down the pipes across the village grounds.

The end result of one of the taps.

For those kind souls who missed out on Phase One and would like to volunteer for Project H2O, do join EcoKnights, Aveda and Build For Tomorrow for Phase Two in April 2018. Otherwise, one can also help donate for the project by joining in during Aveda’s Earth Month 2018 campaign set from the 16th to 22nd April 2018.